We’re having a moment in language where what is trending are words that don’t have exact translated meanings in English. These words usually come from different languages, and their definitions are long strings of sentences meant to capture the intricate details of universal situations, feelings, or experiences that we have all encountered as one point or another as human beings.
We’ve all heard of schadenfreude, the German word for that delicious feeling you get from the misfortune of others. You get schadenfreude when you watch someone pull on a door that is labeled push and they have to try it a few times before sheepishly getting it right and entering the restaurant while nearby customers giggle. Schadenfreude rears its head when you snicker at the sad memes about being single your ex posts to instagram.
Is it petty? Sure. But it is a human experience that we have all felt one time or another. What explains the appeal of these words are how in one single concept, they capture these complex, nuanced perspectives and feelings that we encounter in life that are very universal, very real, but very hard to put into concrete terms. Yet, the fact that we don’t have concrete terms for them. When we finally find that one word to describe exactly this multi-faceted experience, we feel liberated, joyous, and that much more reminded of how alive we are. In many cases, knowing and learning a word actually helps you to connect with yourself and improve your life as you identify experiences you’ve had but couldn’t put a name to and learn their definitions.
An example of this is “hygge”, the trendy Dutch term that has popped up recently all over lifestyle blogs and women’s magazines. Hygge sums up those feelings of coziness that can be unique for every person. For many people, hygge is a warm fire or a sweater or drinking hot cocoa around the fireplace with friends. Hygge can be different for every person though, it could be something as different as having your favorite newspaper and a fan on during a hot summer’s day, or just exactly finding that perfect cold spot on your pillow as you’re drifting off to sleep. The power of hygge does not come from exact details of how you achieve “coziness”, it only matters in that it scratches that itch of perfect unique comfort for you that is unique to you.
Here are ten words that have no English translations but perfectly capture human experience we have all felt at one point or another.
1. Torschlusspanik (German)
In German, it means “closing of the gates” and is that indescribable feeling of knowing you’re running out of time to do accomplish things you want to accomplish because you are getting old, something that every college student going through a quarter life crisis can relate to.
2. Pana Po’o (Hawaiian)
The act of scratching your head in order to try and remember where you left something or where you put something.
3. Flaneur (French)
The act of wandering around a city with no specific goal or destination but with the specific purpose and intent of taking in the sights and wonders of the city.
4. Age-otori (Japanese)
To look worse after a haircut. Because this is probably the most universal human experience.
5. Fargin (Yiddish)
To wholeheartedly appreciate or feel positively about someone else’s well deserved success
6. Han (Korean)
A cultural, complex feeling that orignates from the many invasions into Korea as a country; a feeling described as a collective feeling of anguish and isolation due to injustice and insurmountable odds. A state of the soul
7. Koi Yo Nokan (Japanese)
The feeling one gets when one looks into a person’s face and knows inevitably they will fall in love; a premonition of love
8. Majime (Japanese)
The solid, reliable person in the group who goes by the book and is someone who you can trust will do their share of the work and do whatever it takes to get the work done without drama or fuss. This someone always follows the rules and is moral and upright. It’s telling how in America this type of person would be called a “square” or a “stick in the mud”, but in Japan this type of person is understood to have highly desirable traits. We all want the majime or have been the majime in group projects and our society would be more blessed if we had more majimes.
9. Sobremesa (Spanish)
Describes those conversations that happen at a dinner table long after the food has disappeared.
10. Mamihlapinatapei
Yagan (the indigenous language of Tierra de Fuego)
Poignant and tender to all of those who have experienced it; the meaningful look exchanged between two people who both want to initiate something but are both too afraid to try.
What are some feelings or experiences you have gone through in life that have struck you a certain way, but you didn’t have a name or word for? What would you name these words or experiences?
Want to read more from us? Check out the articles below:
http://www.hercampus.com/school/sonoma-state/why-should-college-women-care-about-politics
http://www.hercampus.com/school/sonoma-state/not-my-america-sonoma-state-protests-trump
http://www.hercampus.com/school/sonoma-state/memes-got-me-through-election